Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Memorie restituite: lo sterminio degli inutili

Capannori marks Remembrance Day 2012, established by the Region of Tuscany in memory of the extermination and persecution of the Jewish population and the Italians deported to Nazi camps, with a series of important events that, from January 23 to February 5, are hosted by ‘Artè’, the Town Council’s new cultural space in via Carlo Piaggia in Capannori. “Restored memories: the extermination of the useless” is common title of a number of exhibitions, a town council meeting, film projections and debates.

The program of the event, promoted by the Town Council, in collaboration with the Institute of History of the Resistance in Lucca, the association Realab, Usl 2, Forum Giovani and Anpi, Scuola per la Pace (School for Peace), aims to provide the opportunity to examine the theme of constraint, also physical, experienced by the mentally ill in mental asylums, before their closure, and the mental hospital criminal detention centres, still existing in Italy. Particular attention is given to the living conditions of patients at the ex-hospitals of Maggiano and Volterra.

Exhibitions: The inauguration will be held on Monday 23 January at 11 am, with the participation of students from the local school. The photography exhibitions include: “Vite” (Lives) by Enzo Cei on the ex-psychiatric hospital in Maggiano, ‘Qui e altrove’ (Here and elsewhere) by Marcantonio Lunardi dedicated to the artistic work of Oreste Fernando Nannetti, a patient at the Volterra mental hospital from 1959 to 1973; ‘Assenze’ (Absenses) slides of the mental hospital at Volterra by Ilaria Sabbatini; ‘La memoria degli altri. Lo sterminio dei disabili nella Germania nazista’ photographic and documentary evidence of the Nazi ‘Program T4’ for the extermination of the disabled, curated by the cooperative C.re.a. There is also an exhibition on the living conditions in the mental hospital in Maggiano by the Tobino foundation and Usl 2.

Council meeting: a town council meeting will be held on Friday 27 January (9 am), dedicated to Remembrance Day, with the participation of students from the High School ‘E.Majorana’ in Capannori, and all those interested.

Film projections: also on Friday 27 January, at 9 pm, there will be a showing of the film “Nazifilm-La propaganda di regime tra cinema e documentazione’, organised by Marcantonio Lunardi and Ilaria Sabbatini.

Debate: On Tuesday 31 January, at 9 pm there will be a meeting held, entitled ‘Abilmente umani’ (Skilfully human): from the Nazi extermination of the disabled to the local processes for a new community. The event will be attended by Tina Centoni, the Headmistress of Capannori School, Emmanuel Pesi from the Institute for the History of the Resistance and the contemporary period of the Province of Lucca, and Armando Sestani from the Cooperative C.r.e.a.

The images: Friday 3 February, at 9 pm – ’Ci misi anni per oltrepassare quel cancello di Maggiano’ (It took me years to go beyond that gate at Maggiano); a photographic reading with Enzo Cei author of ‘Vite’ (Lives), a collection of images of the inmates at the ex-psychiatric hospital in Maggiano.

The exhibitions remain open from January 23 to February 5, from Monday to Friday, 3 pm to 5.30 pm, and Saturday, 10 am to 12 am.